Sunday, 29 January 2017

Moving
forward in the timeline, the next campaign will focus on events in Hispania
during the years of 409 to 429 AD. From a scenario perspective, the period can
be viewed as two parts, the Vandal domination of Hispania followed by the
resurgence of the Suevi. This is particularly interesting as the Alan still
play a minor role in the events as do the attempts by Rome to regain control of
the peninsula.

The game will
have players take the Vandal or Suevi tribes and the participation of the Alan
and Rome becoming a non-player function with their activation taking place during
the card game exchange. This will mean both players will serve a dual role on
the game board as players take command of the Alan or Rome forces.

The immediate
problem is how best to compress ten years of conflict into an evening or two as
the alternative (ten evenings for each year) is not appealing. This will most
likely move through a process of trial and error, but when finalised it will become
a nice option for the campaign rule set opening its use for longer conflicts.

Those
features developed during the previous campaign will be carried forward; inter-tribal
rivalry for both Suevi and Vandal tribes, marauding parties, and plunder. There are a
few situations that will need some attention, such as armed resistance by
the inhabitants and piratical raids.

Wednesday, 25 January 2017

Looking at events following
the crossing of the Pyrenees in 409 AD, each of the migrating tribes (Vandals,
Suevi and Alan) sought to claim a portion of Hispania to settle in. What
transpired in the next two decades permanently severed Hispania from Rome
leaving one of the three migrating nations to dominate the peninsula and one
other to depart to the African provinces. Readers interested in this and other
developments of the Western Empire I can recommend Ian Hughes’ book Patricians and Emperors; this is a well
documented treatment of the era with 25 maps tracing the major turning points
in Rome’s final chapter.

The next step in the Migration
to Kingdom theme is how best to address the next two decades with its barbarian rivalry and feeble
attempts by Rome to restore control over Hispania. I seriously
doubt there are many among us who would relish playing the same theme for twenty
evenings, so there will be a need to “compress” play into a manageable time
frame.

Other aspects such as adding
diplomacy, local resistance by the inhabitants, piratical forays and movement
across seas will need to be added to the basic rule set to include the modifications made with the last project.

The map shows the peninsula divided into the five diocese, these will facilitate movement.

Friday, 20 January 2017

During the
winter month of January, reports
were arriving to the capital of Thebais of marauding bands plundering the small
communities along the Nile. The message was passed quickly throughout the province as Rome began preparations to form a punitive expedition. By
March, only troops from Arcadia
marched through the gates of Ptolemais, so not wishing to delay longer than was
necessary the Dux marched his forces south. The mobile column stationed in Aegyptus
would meet the main army later {1}.

By April the Nobades were found on the
left bank of the Nile (Littoral) deployed between difficult hills and patches
of dunes. Despite the Nobades having greater numbers the battle was hard fought
and brief; several Roman units were mauled as Nobades foot troops appeared from
nowhere (ambush) and despite a small success, the
equites sagittarii sacking their camp, the Dux called for a retreat (a Nobades
victory, 3 -2) {2} .

Two
months were needed to reconstitute the army and proceed with the campaign yet for unexplained
reasons the Nobades remained relatively quiet {3}. After a failed attempt to
bring the Nobades to battle in June,
it was not until the following month that the armies were to meet again.

The
battlefield was a wide plain broken up with a few sparse woods and a large difficult hill. The Nobades deployed between the woods showed less cavalry which meant a good number of their mounted force were out foraging (flank march). Anticipating this, the
Dux led his troops in echelon with the legions heading the attack supported by
the cavalry. Auxilia protected the flanks from possible turning moves and a
unit of auxilia were guarding the camp against any threat to it. The battle was
hotly contested with both sides losing heavily, but Rome prevailed (4 – 3
victory) {4}.

Rome was
literally in hot pursuit of the Nobades (August)
and caught up with them near the frontier. Having little time to gather
reinforcements, the Nobades were now at a disadvantage regarding troop strength
{5}. Moving quickly, the Dux caught the marauders spilling out of their camp (rapid deployment). The engagement that followed did
not last long as the Nobades broke and fled leaving the field littered with their dead to include heir warlord (a Roman victory) {6}.

{2} Jan had
no shortage of sixes and so used the ambush rule to great effect.

{3} Jan’s
good fortune with the die did not extend to the cards; lacking activity points
kept him inert.

{4} The flank
march arrived on turn three, but their effect was blunted by auxilia
troops. In this
battle, the equites (LH) used again their multiple move to seal the fate of two
Nobades foot.

{5} With
seven elements remaining, the Nobades needed two to break.

{6} The
Nobades warlord displayed exceptional prowess by destroying two equites (LH) in
the second battle but met his demise under the sword strokes of two units of legionnaire. As the Nobades are well known for their inter-tribal rivalry Rome can expect another incursion in two or three
years.

This was a
quite a hard fought campaign which saw three battles and eight months of
campaign play finished in less than 2 ½ hours. The campaign system was a new
experience for Jan in which he used the stratagems to good effect.

We did not
use the grouping of clans as this would have slowed the game as two of the
three battles were long affairs lasting more than six turns. For this campaign
a simple die cast was used to determine which terrain type would be used for battle,
arable, littoral, hilly or dry.

Plunder (Draft): Each new province in
which the marauders remain uncontested would be deemed plundered. A counter
would be placed in that province and at the end of the campaign, the number of
counters would be debited from the defender’s total. During battle, spoils
would become part of a comp’s content and could be recovered; this would remove
the counter for that province.

Wednesday, 18 January 2017

While looking
for an inspiration for our Wednesday punch up, I decided to stay within the
timeline and move our conflict to the desert arena of Thebais. Briefly, the
region has been plagued by roving bands of Nobades and the Dux Thebais is
forming a punitive expedition to put a stop to the banditry.

This game will
offer us a chance to experiment with two new features; the effects of plunder
and the transportation of spoils. And to reflect the clan structure of the
Nobades, the army deploys as two groups which move independent of
one another; much like "allied contingents".

Looking at the Notitia Dignitatum, it lists the following number of units in the region.

Map: The campaign map shows five of
the six administrative areas of Egypt. As Roman forces are deployed throughout the provinces, the first priority of the Dux is to begin assembling troops and
supplies. At the start of the year, their placement will follow roughly the distribution of troops
according to the Notitia Dignitatum. Further, battlefields will vary between arable,
littoral (Nile) and dry types.

Wednesday, 11 January 2017

The Battle of
the Utus, fought in 447, was the last engagement between the Huns of
Attila and the Eastern Roman Empire. Details about the battle of Utus are sketchy and are mostly taken from short passages from Jordanes.Attila’s army invaded the Balkan provinces for the
second time in 447 and Arnegisclus, magister utriusque militiae,, marched from Marcianopolis
westwards to engage the Hunnic army at Utus in the Roman province of Dacia Ripensis.

The Roman force consisted of the field armies of the Magister Militum
per Illyricum, Thrace, and Praesentalis which gives a total of 90 units listed by the Notitia
Dignitatum. If these were all present for the battle this could account for the
60,000 quoted by one modern source. A lower quotation of 45,000 or even 30,000
might represent a true picture of Roman numbers.

To re-fight the battle, we used two commands per side based
on the DBA 3.0 army lists for both armies.

The battlefield is an unobstructed plain flanked by the Utus river on one
side and woods on the opposite. The Roman general Arnegisclus deployed all his infantry as his main battle line with his left flank resting on the wooded
area and a reserve of
cavalry held back forming a second line.

Attila deployed all his subject warriors on the right
supported by the Sciri cavalry. This wing slightly
outnumbered Attila’s command. On the left, Attila planned to probe and exploit the
open right of the Roman army while the Hunnic subjects would keep the Roman main
battle line occupied.

Opening moves.

The Roman left moved cautiously forward while auxilia
moved ahead to clear the wood of any opposition. The right kept pace and
dropped horse archers back anticipating a Hunnic encirclement.

As predicted, the Huns moved the subject infantry
forward to lock the Roman battle line while Attila toyed with the Roman right
wing.

Sensing a hesitation on the Hunnic side, the infantry
on the Roman right closed the distance between them and the skirmishing Hunnic
archers. On the extreme right the situation quickly developed into a skirmishing
action.

The Roman left settled down to a hard struggle with
both sides moving to and fro. Between the two wings, the legions supported by
Clibanarii surged forward at the oncoming Gothic cavalry.

After an hour, the Hunnic right wing gave way to superior arms of the Romans; with nearly half the subject levies and all the Gothic
cavalry destroyed. Sensing an ill omen, the Hunnic horse were faltering as many units fled in confusion. In the chaos, a number of Hunnic horse archers were caught by Roman infantry and these would ride no more. On the extreme
left, the Huns found themselves out-matched by Roman horse archers.

Having lost control of the battle and seeing too many Hunnic horse archers slaughtered by Roman infantry, Attila had no choice but to call a general
retreat giving a 9 – 3 victory for Arnegisclus.

Sunday, 8 January 2017

Designing a campaign game
around a migration might not seem to fit everyone’s idea of an ancient theme,
but these events did happen. I looked at alternative conflicts set at the
beginning of the 5th century and there were enough possibilities;
Stilicho, Alaric, and Radagaisus to name a few. However, further reading of the
migration did have its share of conflict situations; aside from the pillage and
plunder by marauding bands of barbarians, inter-tribal discord and ad-hoc
resistance measures in the provinces there were the revolts by the Gallo-Roman
aristocracy against the ruling authority.

The challenge now was how best
to present these in a form that would not detract from a player’s appetite for
battle.

The first scenario, 407 AD,
revealed the shortcomings of the requirement to move an army. The Roman player
need only move one army while the barbarian player had his hands full with
three. Gaining no activity points by the barbarian player forced the migration to
stay in place and became less of a danger. Not quite what I had in mind.

By the last scenario, 409 AD,
the barbarians could exchange their army for marauding columns which could move
at no cost to an adjacent province. This meant the civilian component of the
horde required an activity point to move and this compromise worked.

Limiting the amount of plunder
that could be culled from a province in any given month meant two marauding
columns in the same province would need to fight one another to claim it or one
column would be returning with spoils only to be caught while on the march. Either
way this generated a number of small actions.

So long Constantine III won
battles no one dare challenge his authority. By the second year the barbarians
were still in Gallia which had his image of "saviour begin to lose its lustre.
In scenario 409 AD a number of revolts were planned but as the cards were
played, all three occurred in the same month and in different parts of Gallia
and Hispania. This really livened the game.

Was history changed?

Partially, as not all the
barbarians would make the crossing into Hispania by the end of the game, but
the majority would do so before spring 410 AD, and Constantine III kept his
head for another year.

Saturday, 7 January 2017

During the winter months of January and February discord among the Vandal tribes reached a boiling point
such that the Asding and Siling groups formerly split. Alan marauding parties
were seen further south in the region of Viennensis. The Suevi were content to remain
in the lower province of Maxima Sequanorum away from possible reprisals.

Many of the landed aristocracy
who voiced their discontent at the intolerant situation the previous year were now
talking rebellion. The debate among the provincial senators March produced not one but three
candidates that ironically all stepped forward seize the throne in the same
month.

Constantine III marched on Lugdenensis
III to deal first with Gerontius. Constantine III’s forces, though outnumbered
by Gerontius quickly moved forward to engage his main battle line. Locked in
combat, the Alan appeared in time (flank march stratagem) to see Gerontius in
full retreat leaving a full third of his force dead on the field.

Occupied with suppressing
revolts, the barbarians were able to raid unmolested most of Lugdunensis in the
month of April. After his victory over Gerontius, Constantine III returned
to central Gallia in May. Here, the presence of the army formed a breakwater forcing the
Vandals steer northerly course and the Alan a southerly direction.

By the first week of June, Constantine III marched his army north
to suppress a second rebellion taking place in Armorica. The speed of his approach caught
the army of Armorica completely off guard (rapid deployment stratagem). In less
than an hour victory had been achieved with a goodly portion of the former army
of Armorica now marching south with a new paymaster.

Events heated up in July as Constantine III confronted a
Siling marauding party and defeated them. Likewise, an Alan column caught and severely
handled an Asding raiding party capturing their camp and spoils. Similar operations
continued in August and September, the effect of which channelled
the Vandals in a southward direction toward Hispania.

The Asding Vandals had crossed
the Pyrenees in October with the
Siling hard on their heels. The Germanic group known under the collective name the
Suevi would settle in lower Gallia. The Alan were also content to settle in
Gallia. Having served well as allies, Constantine III moved a number of tribes
to Armorica to keep order there. Others found new homes with their cousins the
Sarmatae who settled in central Gallia some generations earlier.

By winter all the Vandals with
some Alan tribes had made the crossing into Hispania. Maximus, who was quick to
rebel, would now have a tough dish to swallow come spring 410.

Thursday, 5 January 2017

The migration of
the Vandals, Alan and Suevi continue their westward course, but not in the
massive numbers that had crossed the Rhine during the winter of 406 AD. Dissension
and power struggles among the barbarian tribes would continue into the new year
creating a division objectives. Some would continue their raids and plunder
while others would establish communities within various parts of Gaul. Two such
groups of Alans are now occupying regions near Paris and southern Gaul with the
remainder accompanying the Vandals. Of the German tribes, the Burgundi had
found refuge in the southeast region of Gaul and the Suevi would continue their
journey with the Vandals to reach Hispania.

Constantine III,
having expanded his control over most of Gaul proposed an alliance to Honorius
to deal with Alaric and his Goths. Honorius, a victim of court intrigue and
abandoned by Sarus recognises Constantine III as co-emperor. As quickly as
Constantine III’s star rose it began to fade as the Roman inhabitants of
Britannia and Armorica feeling abandoned in their fight against the barbarian
invaders and Saxon incursions rebelled. Elsewhere, rebellion against
Constantine III’s authority spread to Hispania in late 409 establishing Maximus
of Hispania as emperor the following year.

Barbarian player

Of the Germanic
tribes, the Burgundi (Suevi) now settle in Maxima Sequanorum and the Alan has
dispersed to settle in two areas of Gallia. This leaves the Vandal nation
representing the Asding and Siling tribes (represented by two counters). Any
replenishment of troops for either Vandal army will be filled by Suevi and Alan
contingents, representing those that continued their migration west.

The barbarian
player’s sole goal is to bring the Vandal command and inhabitants safely into
Hispania before the end of the season.

Roman player

At the start of
409 AD, the Franks are content to remain within their territory leaving
Constantine III with one army to deal with the Vandal migration and eventual
rebellions. As Constantine III’s authority now erodes any replacement of troops
are must also come from allied troops; the Alan or Suevi (Germanic tribes).

Game map three.

Map three shows
southern Gallic provinces of Novempopulana, Narbonensis I and II, Viennensis,
Alpes Maritimae, and
Tarraconensis of northern Hispania.

Monday, 2 January 2017

During the winter months of January and February Constantine III was able to increase his reserve of
activity points. By springtime (March),
Constantine III marched an advance force under Gerontius to secure the Alpine passes.
He further offered an interesting proposal to the Suevi chieftains; namely
ensuring a safe passage to Maxima Sequanorum in southern Gallia; a tempting
offer that would be considered by the tribal council.

April, Stilicho’s advance forces lead by Sarus {1} had
breached the Alpine pass and would meet Constantine III’s troops. The
confrontation the following month (May)
left both armies bloodied (4 – 3) but Sarus held the field at the end of the day.
Awaiting further orders both sides used the following month to recover their
strength. A build up of activity (and points) within the barbarian camps did
not go unnoticed.

Fresh orders arrived in July and Sarus resumed the conflict
against Gerontius. Unconcerned as to the outcome of the engagement, the Vandal
and Alan armies with their people moved into Belgica II. The army of the Suevi
moved into Maxima Sequanorum leaving their folk behind in Belgica I. This move
was now seen as a threat to both Roman camps.

Sarus’ rapid march caught
Gerontius in the open and the battle that followed was hotly contested. Shortly
after the two armies were locked in combat Alan allies appeared and struck Sarus’ exposed flank facilitating a
decisive victory (4 – 0) for Gerontius.

In August, the Vandal and Alan would continue their march westward
while the Suevi held their course southward. The participation of the Alan in
the last battle was not lost on Constantine III and diplomatic missions were
sent to the three tribes to re-establish the former treaties with a goal toward
hastening their journey further west to Hispania or the creation of settlements
within Gallia. The death of Stilicho in August brought welcome relief as
Honorius lost one of his most able commanders. Sarus was recalled to help stem
the Gothic threat to Italian territory.

For the next two months (September – October) no further military operations were conducted as the
migrating hordes seemed content to remain in Belgica II. Operations in November would cease until the
following spring and Constantius III moved to Lugdunenesis I and winter
quarters.

{1} Sarus would march against
Gerontius when either player drew a King (any suite). In a two player game, the
barbarian player would command the army of Sarus.

Assessment

All barbarian tribes had
migrated to an adjacent province giving the barbarian player a taste of
victory. Accumulated activity point score for the end of 408 AD is one compare
to ten for Constantine III.

The barbarian player was not
as fortunate with the cards as the Roman player was. Something to think about -
to assist the barbarian hordes, I may revise the movement rule for the
barbarian folk and give them a free passage each season to an adjacent province
while moving the military counters would still require an activity point.